Laylo 2 rounds from dream win

MANILA, Philippines -  GM Darwin Laylo squeezed out a hard-fought draw against GM David Arutinian of Georgia to move closer to a dream title run in the Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Cup International Chess Championship at the Subic Bay Travelers Hotel in Subic yesterday.

Laylo, riding the crest of a big win over GM Xu Jun of China in the seventh round Monday, foiled Arutinian’s attack with precise moves to force the draw that kept his one-point lead intact heading into the last two rounds of the 10-round championship.

With seven points, Laylo held back a slew of pursuers from Georgia, China and Indonesia and moved a win and a draw away from clinching the crown in the event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and held in honor of its president.

The 31-year-old Laylo is actually hard pressed to win the tournament after blowing his title bid in the World Cup qualifier where he led the field going to the last two rounds but faltered after losing his last two games.

Arutinian led the six pointers group that includes GM Wen Yang, GM Li Shilong and Lu Shanglei, all of China, and newly crowned Asian Zone 3.3 champion GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia.

Arutinian, one of two Georgians seeing action in the 86-player field, settled for back-to-back draws with Wen and Laylo, while Li stunned top seed GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia and split the point with second seed GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore to improve to six points and boost their chances for the $6,000 top prize.

Lu, the only untitled player in the five-man second group, outlasted IM Oliver Dimakiling in the seventh round and then stunned GM Eugene Torre the following round to keep his hopes alive.

Megaranto, the highest-rated Indonesian player in the roster, humbled Wang Jue of China and IM Rolando Nolte in the seventh and eighth rounds, respectively.

Asian Zone 3.3 runner-up GM Mark Paragua outclassed IM Yves Ranola while GM John Paul Gomez subdued Denile Causo in a pair of all-Filipino encounters to lead seven other players with 5.5 points.